Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 3 Pt. 1 eBook

Vaisampayana said, “And saying this, the citizens
went after the Pandavas, and having met them, they
all, with joined hands, thus addressed the sons of
Kunti and Madri.

“’Blest be ye! Where will ye go,
leaving us in grief? We will follow you whithersoever
ye will go! Surely have we been distressed upon
learning that ye have been deceitfully vanquished
by relentless enemies! It behoveth you not to
forsake us that are your loving subjects and devoted
friends always seeking your welfare and employed in
doing what is agreeable to you! We desire not
to be overwhelmed in certain destruction living in
the dominions of the Kuru king. Ye bulls among
men, listen as we indicate the merits and demerits
springing respectively from association with what
is good and bad! As cloth, water, the ground,
and sesame seeds are perfumed by association with
flowers, even so are qualities ever the product of
association. Verily association with fools produceth
an illusion that entangleth the mind, as daily communion
with the good and the wise leadeth to the practice
of virtue. Therefore, they that desire emancipation
should associate with those that are wise and old
and honest and pure in conduct and possessed of ascetic
merit. They should be waited upon whose triple
possessions, viz., knowledge (of the Vedas),
origin and acts, are all pure, and association with
them is even superior to (the study of the) scriptures.
Devoid of the religious acts as we are, we shall yet
reap religious merit by association with the righteous,
as we should come by sin by waiting upon the sinful.
The very sight and touch of the dishonest, and converse
and association with them, cause diminution of virtue,
and men (that are doomed to these), never attain purity
of mind. Association with the base impaireth
the understanding, as, indeed, with the indifferent
maketh it indifferent, while communion with the good
ever exalteth it. All those attributes which
are spoken of in the world as the sources of religious
merit, of worldly prosperity and sensual pleasures,
which are regarded by the people, extolled in the
Vedas, and approved by the well-behaved, exist
in you, separately and jointly! Therefore, desirous
of our own welfare, we wish to live amongst you who
possess those attributes!’

“Yudhishthira said, ’Blessed are we since
the people with the Brahmanas at their head, moved
by affection and compassion credit us with merits
we have not. I, however, with my brothers, would
ask all of you to do one thing. Ye should not,
through affection and pity for us, act otherwise!
Our grandfather Bhishma, the king (Dhritarashtra),
Vidura, my mother and most of my well-wishers, are
all in the city of Hastinapura. Therefore, if
ye are minded to seek our welfare, cherish ye them
with care, uniting together as they are overwhelmed
with sorrow and afflictions. Grieved at our departure,
ye have come far! Go ye back, and let your hearts
be directed with tenderness towards the relatives I
entrust to you as pledges! This, of all others,
is the one act upon which my heart is set, and by
doing this ye would give me great satisfaction and
pay me your best regards!’”